Intelligent Civilizations Rarer than One in a Million

Scientific Computing ^ | Tue, 02/12/2013 - 7:13am

[null and void]

That’s why there were no muslims in Star Trek...

[OSHA]

Akshul rasho of inhabited planets is

(# planets in universe)/one

[null and void]

Or, based on the singular data point you cited, zero.

[TomGuy]

in hopes of eavesdropping on interplanet communications

Just like the Obama justice dept wants to do with OUR emails.

==

Could be that those Alpha Centarians are already listening in on our communications. hmmmmmmmmmmmm. There do seem to be a rash of close encounters with 'asteroids' and 'meteorites' lately. Maybe, those rocks are not really rocks, but are just disguises...

[dfwgator]

It’s been my observation that intelligent humans are rarer than one in a million.

You certainly won't find any in Washington DC.

[MrB]

Who do you think the Klingons are modeled after?

[MrB]

That’s not going to happen until the Big Guy comes back, then “colonizing” will have no meaning.

Socialism is the political expression of the religion of Humanism which began with the lie “you will be like God, knowing good and evil”,

and will only end when its author is flung into the Pit.

[InterceptPoint]

Or, based on the singular data point you cited, zero.

Well yes. We are talking about "Intelligent" Civilizations.

[rbg81]

Another thing these estimates don't factor in is the temporal dimension. I would not be at all surprised if its common for Advanced Intelligence/Civilizations to rise and then inexplicably fall. A lot may destroy themselves through wars. But a lot of other “intelligent” races may simply de-evolve, or even go extinct, because they embraced policies that were not compatible with the long term sustainment of intelligence. Its the kind of thing HG Wells warned about in “The Time Machine”. I think we will see this play out in human society.

You could also have civilizations that, once sufficiently intelligent, lose their physical form and self evolve to a “higher” level (e.g., pure energy). That is what Arthur C. Clarke prophesied in some of his books, like “Childhood's End” and “2001 - A Space Odyssey”.

[MrB]

We’re closer to Idiocracy than any of those scenarios.

[Dead Corpse]

2700 id’d... Untold quintillions to go...

[Sirius Lee]

Counting on radio waves is problematic.

All the cool advanced civilizations use communicate via quantum entanglement. The coolest ones have the new iTangle - now with more cattle mutilation apps.

[Iron Munro]

They were able to evaluate one million civilizations spread throughout the universe?
Exactly where are these million civilizations located?
And how did they communicate with them?

We know there is no intelligent life to be found at this location:

[Conservative4Ever]

I’m sure glad humans picked this one. :-)

[yoe]

Even with such odds, there could be millions of advanced civilizations in the galaxy.

The "recipe" for earth, that magnitude of perfection in what it takes to create life as we know it, intelligent life, probably is in the teens if at all, not in the millions.

[rbg81]

I’ve often thought that the Human civilization will come to an abrupt end once someone invents a device that can channel entertainment directly into the mind.

Such an invention would give people the illusion they are doing something sexy or heroic when, in fact, they would just be in some sort of trace or sensory deprivation tank.

For most men, their “lives” would turn into one big porn movie. For most women, it would be an endless shopping trip.

[null and void]

The conditions need not be that exact if you allow the life to be something that isn’t identical to human life.

As near as we can tell the only real requirement for “life as we know it” is liquid water.

Everything else is details.

[MrB]

I see Michelle decided to hang out with the stormtrooper.

[null and void]

Where can I sign up?

[Personal Responsibility]

One of my favorite games of all time. Outstanding!